A Certain Level of Maturity
by efficacious humorosity
Summary: Sequel to "Real Girls Play Softball." During their senior year, Jane makes a life-changing decision, Charley faces depression, and Will and Elizabeth are unexpectedly thrown into adulthood. But are they mature enough to handle it?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I own nothing

**A/N: I own nothing. This is the first chapter of "A Certain Level of Maturity," the sequel to "Real Girls Play Softball." Please review and enjoy! **

Chapter 1

"If I make this goal, I win."

Will, with a smirk playing on his lips, whispered the words so softly that even Elizabeth barely heard them.

"But if you don't, _I _win," she replied triumphantly, a matching grin spreading across her own face, as she rested her arms on the desk, holding her forearms straight up directly in front of her.

"Okay, here it goes," Will said quietly. "Three…two… one…" He flicked the triangular piece of paper with his index finger, sending it flying through the air. It sailed through Elizabeth's arms and smacked her lightly on the face, before dropping onto her lap. "Yes!"

"Damn it," she muttered, laughing softly. "Why do you have to be so good at paper football?"

"It's a talent of mine," he replied, shrugging. "Though, I must say, I've never seen quite as well-formed paper footballs as yours, Miss Bennet."

"Oh, you're so full of it," she said, rolling her eyes affectionately at her boyfriend of eighteen months.

"That's mature," he snorted. "Elizabeth, what are we? Twelve? I think not. I am turning eighteen in January, you know. I think being seniors requires us to possess a certain level of maturity."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "I don't think I can manage that."

Will chuckled and shook his head at her. "Honestly, Elizabeth. You are one of the most _ridiculous_ people I've ever met," he said, still laughing quietly at her.

"I can almost say the same for you, Will," she retorted.

"Almost?"

"Well, I can certainly say you're the most _stubborn_ person I've ever met," she told him, smirking triumphantly.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Elizabeth stood and slung her backpack over her shoulders, waiting at the doorway for her boyfriend. When he finally joined her at the doorway, they proceeded down the hall together, making their way to the other building. "Any plans for tonight?" Will asked her, shifting the weight of his backpack nervously from his left shoulder to his right.

"No," she shook her head. "Jane has something to tell me when we get to her house, but she said it wouldn't take long."

"Oh," he said, running a hand anxiously through his hair as he bit his lip. "Do you want to come to my house tonight?"

"Why the hell are you so nervous?" she asked him, shaking her head at him affectionately. "We've only been going out for a year and a half."

He shrugged in reply, still looking nervous. "I don't know. Well…? Do you want to come over? My mom has a business dinner and Georgiana is sleeping over at a friend's house. So it'll just be the two of us."

"Oooh," she joked, "sounds… dangerously sexy."

"I wasn't thinking along those lines at all!" he sniped back, pushing her on the shoulder jokingly. "We'll just… play Halo and Guitar Hero."

"Sure, sounds fun," she finally said, still chuckling from their banter. "What time do you want me to come over?"

"Sevenish?" he suggested, cocking his head at her as they finally reached the other building. They paused in the library and he took both her hands in hers, brining a slow kiss to the knuckles of each hand.

"Okay," she nodded, her eyes trained on his large hands, which were still firmly grasping her small ones. "Seven sounds good."

Tugging gently on her hands, he brought his face closer to hers, planting a slow, famished kiss on her lips. "I love you," he murmured gently, pulling away slightly and tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ear.

Placing a kiss on his lips, she replied, "I love you, too, Fitzwilliam." The corner of his mouth twisted up into a smile at her use of his full name.

"See you at seven?"

"See you at seven."

CLMCLMCLM

"So, Jane, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Elizabeth observed her best friend, who, now that she thought of it, looked nearly exactly the same as she did in their sophomore year, when the best friends had first met Charley and Will. They sat next to each other at the foot of Jane's bed; awaiting Jane's reply, Elizabeth bounced absentmindedly on it, wiggling her foot, and thinking of Will. Jane bit her lip, looking more agitated than Elizabeth had seen her in a while. "My aunt in California sent me a letter," she said slowly, refusing to look Elizabeth in the eye.

"All this fuss for a letter?" Elizabeth giggled. "No offense, I, personally, love your aunt, but… really, Jane? You had me all worked up for this."

"No, no, no," Jane said, sounding a bit frustrated. "It's the _content_ of said letter that I need to talk to you about."

"Well, what did it say?" Elizabeth asked.

"My aunt has requested that I visit her in California," she said reluctantly.

"And…?" her friend prodded, unable to ignore the feeling that there was more to it than Jane was letting on at the moment.

"She wants me to spend the remainder of the school year with her, attending a local magnet school," Jane whispered, closing her eyes determinedly.

"You're shitting me," Elizabeth said disbelievingly. Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she said, "Well…?"

"Well, what?" Jane snapped, looking up at her, her eyes opening quickly.

"Are you going to?" she pressed. "What other question could I possibly be asking?"

"I don't know if I'm going to," she replied quietly. "I think I might though. Graduating from a magnet school would make getting into college a lot easier."

"True, and I don't doubt that you could do well in _any_ school, Jane," Elizabeth said, standing from her sitting position and pacing about the room. "But do you really want to do this? Your senior year?"

"I… I think so," she said slowly, looking up at her friend. "What do you think, Elizabeth?"

"When did you receive this letter?" she asked, not looking Jane in the eye.

"Last night," Jane replied.

"I think that you need to think about it more before you make a final decision," Elizabeth said. "But if you do decide to go, I certainly will miss you a lot."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I own nothing

**A/N: I own nothing. Please leave a review and enjoy the chapter! **

Chapter 2

"Elizabeth? Are you okay?" Will asked, sounding concerned as they battled it out online on Halo that evening. Without bothering to answer his question, Elizabeth splattered another poor, innocent online player with the Banshee. "I sense some pent up anger toward these people online… that you've never met."

"No," she muttered unconvincingly. "Everything's fine." Back on the ground in the game again, she beat down three players in rapid succession.

Sighing, Will quit the game and set his controller down on the coffee table in front of him. He turned to face her on the couch, gently prying her own controller from her slender fingers. "What's wrong?" he asked gently, taking both of her hands in his. "Elizabeth?"

She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head stubbornly. Rolling his eyes, he leaned in to kiss her softly, but she remained unresponsive, even to the feel of his lips on hers.

Pulling away in frustration and releasing her hands, he said, "Just tell me what's wrong, Elizabeth. I know you're distracted by _something_. You might as well tell me what it is now."

She sighed heavily, slipping both her hands into his again, and said, "I talked to Jane before I came here."

"Yes, I was aware of that," he said slowly. "Is that supposed to surprise me?"

"It's what Jane _told _me that's bothering me," she told him.

"Well, what did she say?" he pressed on gently, his thumb absentmindedly rubbing circles on her hand.

"She got a letter from her aunt," she started slowly. "Her aunt wants her to spend the rest of the school year in California, attending a local magnet school."

"What?" Will said, his lower jaw dropping as he looked simply astonished. He quickly regained his composure and asked, "Well, is she going to?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Attending a magnet school will certainly increase her chances of getting into college," she said, sounding uncertain, even to herself. "But… I don't know."

"What about you?" he asked. "What about me? What about… what about Charley? He'd be crushed."

"I know," she whispered softly, squeezing his hands in hers. "But I don't know what to tell her. She seems to be leaning toward going."

Will shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Let's not worry about it for now, okay?" he said. "It's Jane's decision to make; she's a big girl. We shouldn't worry unnecessarily about it, all right?"

"All right," she mumbled in assent. Biting her lip, she added, "Sorry I've been so distracted. I meant to be fully here and perfectly attentive for our date." He chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead, his statement of his forgiveness. "Can I make up for it?"

"Certainly," he smirked, drawing her face close to his. He deftly caught her mouth with his own, his lips moving against her in a teasing manner.

She moaned appreciatively, one hand reaching up to cup his cheek as her lips responded to his. His tongue swept against her mouth, requesting entrance, which she granted to him, allowing him to explore the cavern of her mouth. He scooted closer to her on the couch, one hand resting gently on her thigh, the other stroking her hair tenderly.

Pulling his lips from hers, he began to trail kisses down her neck, causing her to moan his name aloud.

"Fitzwilliam."

The sound of his name from her lips in so breathy a tone caused him to grin against her skin, one of his hands sliding swiftly up her back to grip her neck. Reattaching his lips to hers, he angled her head backwards as she arched against him, both actions allowing him better access to her mouth. Pulling away, she quickly leaned in to nip his earlobe, which caused him to moan. She sat back into the couch, panting, breathless, and smiling.

"Thanks for that," he said, breathing laboriously in order to catch his breath.

"Believe me, Will," she said, grinning. "I enjoyed it as much as you did." He smiled widely at her, one hand reaching up to resume stroking her dark locks. Suddenly, she asked, "Was there a reason you were so nervous when you were asking me to come over when we were leaving school?"

"Actually, yes," he said, looking flustered all of a sudden. Distracted by her previous moodiness, he had completely forgotten about his ulterior motive for asking her to come over. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Talk away," she instructed him, looking at him expectantly with her brown eyes.

"It's kind of an awkward subject," he babbled. "And maybe tonight isn't the best time, I wasn't counting on you being distracted anyway… and maybe I should just do this tomorrow or something…"

"Fitz?" she said, raising her eyebrow at him. He looked up curiously. She only called him 'Fitz' when she was dryly amused or when he was doing something stupid, two events which usually coincided with each other. "You're babbling."

"Oh," he said simply.

"Just tell me what you wanted to talk about," she urged him on. "Go on."

Sucking in a deep breath, he said quickly, "How do you feel about sex?"

Her eyes widened, more so in surprise than in offense. "What do you mean?" After examining him silently for a few moments, she said, "Are you asking when I intend to have sex?"

"Yes… and no," he said slowly. "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything… I was just wondering, is all. I just… I wanted to know. I'm sorry." He hung his head in sheepish shame, as though he believed he had done something wrong.

"I don't intend to have sex until I'm married," she replied, smiling at him. "I'm still a virgin, Fitzwilliam."

"As am I," he said swiftly, lest she think otherwise. "It just… I just… actually, my mom brought it up the other day."

"Oh?" she said, looking curiously. "Pray tell."

"She commented on what a good relationship you and I must have, having been going out for a year and half… and she kind of asked if we had had sex yet. I told her that we hadn't, but it got me thinking that… I didn't really know your views on it. So… yeah," he said, finishing lamely. Looking up at her, he said, "You know I'd never force you into doing anything… right?"

"Of course I know that, William," she said softly, causing the corners of his mouth to kick up in a smile. She only called him 'William' when she was being serious. Then she chuckled. "I love how sweet you are when you do this stuff. Most guys wouldn't ask about it, they'd just assume that I'm dying to sleep with them."

"And how is that funny?" he questioned, referring to her chuckling from just a few moments before.

"I was just thinking of how different you are now than when I first met you," she said. "I love the real Fitzwilliam Darcy."

Smiling broadly at her, he shyly said, "But I can only be myself with you, Elizabeth."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I still own nothing

**A/N: I still own nothing. If I did, in fact, own something, I would not be writing fan fiction. Yes, I changed my pen name, but it's still me. Oh, and the evil corporate sock company thing comes from my friend, efficacious theatricality. Please read and review and enjoy! **

Chapter 3

A month later, Charley's worst nightmare had come true. A short two weeks after receiving the letter from her aunt, Jane left for California for the remainder of the school year. The couple had agreed to try a long-distance relationship, but one could tell that Charley was extremely disheartened by her absence. Will sensed the loss of his friend of two years, and Elizabeth felt slightly abandoned by her best friend. However, all three of them kept their mouths, shut wanting what was best for Jane, even if it required her to be so far away from them.

One Thursday evening, Elizabeth was sitting cross-legged on the floor of Will's den, Will sitting across from her. She had eaten dinner with the Darcy family, and afterwards, she and Will had decided to pass the remainder of the evening simply chatting. This had led to them asking questions of each other and it had become some sort of game. "Okay, your turn," Elizabeth said. "Ask me a question."

"Um…" he said thoughtfully, screwing up his eyes as he glanced up at the ceiling. "What were you afraid of when you were little?"

At this, Elizabeth snorted in a laugh. "Most seven-year olds are afraid of the dark," she said. "When I was seven… I was afraid of evil corporate sock companies. I was convinced that sock companies stole socks from washing machines so that people would buy more socks. I used to camp out outside the laundry room with a plastic sword."

Will barely managed to suppress his laughter for two seconds, before he let it loose, throwing his head back with the force of his mirth. "Wow, Elizabeth," he said, fighting for his breath. "I always knew there was something a little bit off about you."

She maturely stuck her tongue out at him, before saying, "Well, what were _you_ afraid of when you were little?"

"I wasn't afraid of anything," he said slowly, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Liar," she scoffed. "Come on, just tell me!" She scooted around the coffee table that was separating them so that she could sit next to him and snuggle up to him. Resting her head on his broad shoulder, she wheedled, "Fitzwilliam!"

"I'll never tell," he vowed. At this she pouted, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Well… one day. But not now."

"Fine," she pouted. Then she sobered. "I have something serious I need to talk to you about."

"Shoot," he said encouragingly, looking down at her and draping an arm over her petite shoulders. "What's up?"

"It's about Charley," she said softly. "He's seemed really down ever since Jane left."

"That's because he _has_ been down ever since Jane left," Will snorted. "I don't know if you've noticed this, but Charley is a very hands-on person. He enjoys being with people in person more so than calling them or e-mailing them."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "It's really starting to affect him, though. He needs to get out more."

Will nodded, looking worried, before he snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up. "I heard about a party at Ben's house tomorrow night. Maybe we should all go together."

"That's a great idea," she said, then she paused. "Wait. I thought you didn't like going to parties."

"I don't," he shrugged, looking truly indifferent. "But if it'll help Charley, I'm up for it. And if you'll be there… we can… entertain ourselves."

The corners of her mouth twitched at what he was implying. "Are you suggesting that we leave poor, sociopathic Charley to fend for himself while we go hide and make out?"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting," he said, pressing a soft kiss to her hair. "After all, the best way for him to learn to be outgoing again is through experience."

CLMCLMCLM

After Will and Elizabeth's persistent nagging throughout the day, Charley finally agreed to attend the party. They rode together in Will's car, with Will driving and Elizabeth occupying the front seat. "Why do _you_ get the front seat?" Charley asked, sounding disgruntled. "I used to _always_ get the front seat."

"Sorry, man," Will chuckled, parallel parking next to the sidewalk just outside Ben's house. "But I fear her wrath more than I fear yours."

"I always knew there was a reason I loved you," Elizabeth quipped, pecking Will's cheek quickly. The three of them piled out of the car and entered the party.

CLMCLMCLM

Throngs of people had somehow managed to crowd themselves into Ben's house, with loud music vibrating throughout the structure. Will and Elizabeth soon managed to give Charley the slip among the crowds, and they slowly made their way to the kitchen. "Do you want to get a drink or something?" Will shouted over the din in the room.

"Sure," Elizabeth replied equally as loudly, nodding her head as well. He grasped her hand firmly and pulled her out of the crowded living and room into the brightly lit, and thankfully empty, kitchen. There was food and drink set out on a table, ready for any guests who would want libations.

"What do you want?" he asked, pulling her gently over to the table.

"I don't know," she said. She then spotted a large punch bowl full of a peach-colored drink. "How about that?"

"Looks good," he agreed, releasing her hand and grabbing a cup. Filling the punch spoon with the drink, he tipped it into the cup and handed it to her before pouring a cup for himself.

"To Charley?" she suggested, holding her cup out, as if for a toast.

"To Charley," he agreed. They bumped their plastic cups together and tipped their heads back, pouring the drink down both their throats. He smiled, taking one of her hands and brining it to his mouth, planting a slow, wet kiss on it.

She rolled her eyes. "Snake charmer."

"Snake," he countered, smirking triumphantly at her.

Admitting defeat, she wrapped her warms around his abdomen, pressing her body against his.

However, neither of them realized that the punch they were consuming was spiked with alcohol.

What with both of them being non-drinkers, the situation made for some interesting consequences.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I still own nothing, and that will never change

**A/N: I still own nothing, and that will never change. Please read, review, and enjoy! Please keep in mind that I am, in no manner, advocating underage drinking or the other activity that takes place in this chapter. In fact, I am quite against it. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

As the night wore on, Will and Elizabeth consumed more and more of the punch, still wholly unaware of the fact that it had been spiked, due to the dulling of their logic by the alcohol. "Will," Elizabeth giggled drunkenly, sliding her hand into the back pocket of his jeans. His muscles tensed at her touch before he relaxed again, wrapping a single arm around her waist. He leaned down and gently took her earlobe between his teeth, his tongue flicking softly against it. At this, she gasped loudly. "Will," she repeated, this time sounding as though she were admonishing him.

"What?" he grunted, his free hand absentmindedly playing with her dark locks.

"We're in _public_," she said, leaning her head against his chest. "We shouldn't be…"

"We shouldn't be what?" he questioned. "Displaying our affection?" She nodded. Sighing loudly, he grasped her hand firmly and pulled her towards the hallway, off of which many bedrooms were located. The alcohol had by then taken quite a strong hold of his mind, and he never would have suggested such a thing had he been sober, nor would she have agreed to go along with it had she been sober as well.

He finally pulled her into a dark bedroom and shut the door behind them, pulling her to him. "Elizabeth," he moaned, pressing a hot, open-mouthed kiss to her slightly exposed collarbone. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she gasped, arching against him. Her hands flew to his hair, running her hands through his dark locks.

He pulled away, looking at her longingly as his fingers fumbled with the bottom of her shirt. "Elizabeth… can I?"

Had she been sober, she would've refused. Then again, had _he_ been sober, he never would've even led her to the dark room. She nodded, whispering a barely audible, "Yes."

Without further ado, he pulled the shirt over her head, exposing her form to him. As drunk as he was, he barely let his eyes admire her before unsnapping her bra and kissing her fully exposed abdomen.

Likewise, she pulled his shirt off of him and pressed her naked upper body to his, feeling her heart beat against his, both rhythms equally erratic. She felt his erection pressing into her and she fumbled with the button of his jeans. Moaning loudly as he kissed her neck, he aided her in ridding himself of the cumbersome article of clothing and wriggle out of them as skillfully as possible.

He did the same for her and he held her naked form against his. Her hand ran down the length of his thigh, stroking the well-formed muscles that lurked hidden beneath his skin. His hold on her tightened, as the alcohol continued to fog both their minds.

Kissing her hungrily, he fell onto the bed and pulled her down on top of him.

CLMCLMCLM

About an hour later, Elizabeth stumbled out of bed and began to put on her clothes, having trouble locating them and donning them in the darkness and in her own drunkenness. Her movements stirred Will, who rose from bed to do the same. Having finished, she collapsed onto the bed once more, and promptly fell asleep.

Feeling equally as tired, Will did the same, and Elizabeth unconsciously snuggled up to him in her sleep.

CLMCLMCLM

When Charley was ready to leave the party, he began to search for Elizabeth and Will. Seeing as he was unable to find them anywhere, he began to ask others if they had seen them. Finally, he asked a girl from his calculus class named Emily. "Emily," he breathed, "have you seen Will or Elizabeth?"

"Actually, I did," Emily replied, "quite a while ago. I saw them head into that room, just down the hall."

Charley raised an eyebrow at this reply, but merely thanked her, having no reason to believe that Emily would lie about what she had seen. He opened the door of the indicated room and found Will and Elizabeth curled up in bed, fully clothed. He shook his head and sighed in exasperation, figuring they must've gotten tired, even though they had been the ones to drag _him_ to the party.

Leaving the room briefly, he recruited Ben, who carried Will to the car, while Charley carried Elizabeth. "Thanks, Ben," Charley said, shutting the car door. "I never could've carried them both by myself."

"No problem, man," Ben said. "Thanks for coming, okay?" Lowering his voice, he added, "And look. I'm sorry about Jane."

Charley grunted as Ben returned to his house. He climbed into the car and put the key into the ignition and started the engine. He supposed he had better take them home.

CLMCLMCLM

A little more than a half an hour later, Will was safely in his bed, having been carried up by the combined efforts of Mrs. Darcy, Charley, and Georgiana, who had complained immensely about her brother's weight. He was snoring away, sleeping off his drunken stupor, and still had no recollection of what he and Elizabeth had done.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was likewise sleeping in her own bed, having been dropped off first by Charley and carried to bed by her father. She was still wearing the same clothes she had worn to the party, some of her articles of clothing inside out, due to her attempt to don them whilst drunk and in the dark.

While it was true that neither of them had been aware of the alcohol contained in the punch, the consequences would be more far-reaching than they ever could've anticipated. At that point, neither of them had any memory of their activities of the previous night, but that would not last for very long. For they would regain their memories once they awoke, and they would have to deal with what happened whilst both of them were drunk and in love.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I still own nothing

**A/N: I still own nothing. As hinted in the last chapter, Will and Elizabeth have some very serious things to face. Please leave a review! Enjoy. **

Chapter 5

Will was woken late the next morning by the ringing of his cell phone. Rolling over to grab it, he groaned into the receiver, "Hello?"

"Will," said the voice of Georgiana. "There's a problem."

"With what?" he grunted, glancing at the clock and sounding as though he'd rather be asleep. With his free hand, he rubbed his right eye, then his left, trying to rid them of sleep.

"With Elizabeth," she said sharply. He immediately sat up in bed.

"What is it?" he demanded, sounding anxious.

"I was just over at her house to drop off some of her things that she had accidentally left at ours," his sister replied. "She refused to come out of her room. She sounded… well, Will… it sounded like she was crying."

"I'll be over there as soon as I can," he told her, hanging up the phone. As he scrambled out of bed, he wondered what could induce her to cry so early in the day. Then the memories of the previous night came flooding back to him, and he had to pause and allow the strange mix of shock and regret to wash completely over him before he could even do so much as put on his socks.

CLMCLMCLM

Will ran up the stairs to Elizabeth's room and stopped short at her door, wondering if she would want to see him or not. Knocking softly on the door, he called, "Elizabeth? It's me."

"Come in," she called, her response accompanied by a sniff. He opened the door slowly and spotted her sitting near the headboard of her bed, now wearing pajamas and hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth nervously. Closing the door behind him, he sat at the foot of her bed, a good few feet away from her. Tears were pouring down her cheeks at an alarming rate, as her toes curled into the blanket, seeming to comfort her. He wore a fresh pair of jeans and a Boston Red Sox t-shirt and his baseball letterman jacket from Washington Preparatory School. Nervously, he kicked off his shoes and sat cross-legged, tucking his feet beneath him. He sucked in a deep breath of preparation, fearing her reaction.

"I assume you remembered," he said quietly, refusing to look her in the eye. In his peripheral vision, he saw her nod and he sighed aloud. "Elizabeth… I think that punch was spiked." She nodded again. Looking up, he caught sight of tears sparkling in her clear brown eyes. "Hey," he said softly, scooting close to her and wrapping his arms around her. He almost expected her to push him away, and he couldn't blame her, after the previous night. But instead, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and allowed the tears to flow. He rubbed her back soothingly, whispering as he fought to keep his own tears from spilling down his face. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he quietly breathed in her scent, which reminded him of slight vanilla and cinnamon.

After what seemed like hours, she pulled away and looked up at him, saying, "I love you, Fitzwilliam."

"I love you, too, Elizabeth," he replied, stuttering slightly through his shock. "Do you… do you regret it?"

"Yes… and no," she said, sniffing and reaching for a tissue before blowing her nose into it. "I regret having had sex before marriage."

"But…?" he said, sensing that she had something else to say.

"But I don't regret doing it with _you_," she explained. "I'm just… I'm just glad it was you and not someone else, William. It would've been far worse."

A few moments of silence passed between them, filled only by her sniffing. "We were drunk, Elizabeth," he said slowly.

"I know," she replied, resting her head against his chest once more.

"We didn't know what we were doing," he added.

"I know."

"If we were sober, we wouldn't have done it," he said, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I know."

"I'm sorry," he finally choked out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just… I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she told him. "I'm not mad at you, William."

"You should be," he muttered.

"But I'm not," she said. "Look, William… just… I don't know."

"We can't pretend it never happened, Elizabeth," he told her. "Because it did. Because it's going to change our lives… most likely permanently."

"I wasn't going to suggest that," she told him firmly. "I was going to suggest that we admit it was a mistake and move on."

He considered this for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose that is the best thing to do." After a few moments, he asked, "Are we going to tell our parents?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have all the answers," she muttered. "Are we going to tell Charley?"

"He's not stupid, he's going to figure it out eventually," Will said reasonably. "The question is, would you rather tell him or have him find out on his own?"

"You tell him," she said, squeezing his hands in hers. "I'll write to Jane… I'll tell her."

Will nodded, kissing each of her cheeks tenderly. One corner of his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. "Do you want to go to church with me today?" he asked.

"When? Now?" she asked, and he nodded in reply. "Why?"

"Well, I don't know about you," he said slowly, "but I feel the strong need to go to confession."

She could not stop the grin that was spreading across her face, despite the stray tears still rolling down her pale cheeks. She had a feeling that neither of them would be able to forget what they had done while they had been drunk, but she also had the feeling that they would be able to move on. After all, what's done is done. Plus, one always feels infinitely better after going to confession.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I don't own, never said I did

**A/N: I don't own, never said I did. Sorry it's taken me a little longer than usual to update, but I had trouble imagining how I wanted this chapter to pan out. Please read, review, and enjoy! **

Chapter 6

Elizabeth was at an early morning softball practice on a Saturday morning when it happened again. Unable to control herself, she sprinted as far away from her shortstop position as she possibly could before she began to vomit. "Time out!" her coach called, running towards her to see if she was okay. "Bennet? Are you okay?"

She wiped her mouth as the last of her breakfast left her stomach and nodded. "I'm fine," she muttered.

Shaking her head, her coach said, "I don't believe you, Bennet. Go get showered up. You're done for today."

Feeling too crappy to argue, Elizabeth merely nodded her head and made her way up towards the school again. Will, who had been in the stands watching her practice, anxiously made his way towards her. "Elizabeth, what's wrong?" he asked, taking one of her hands in his and placing his other hand at the small of her back.

"I just… I threw up," she said lamely, hiding the fact that she had been sick every morning for the past four days. "It was an intense practice."

He looked at her doubtfully, but remained silent. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, leading her into the building and towards the girls' locker room.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Will," she said softly, pushing open the door to the locker room. "Just let me shower up and then we can leave, okay?"

He nodded as he watched her retreat into the room and he couldn't help but feel that there was something she was keeping from him.

CLMCLMCLM

Elizabeth felt the icy fingers of guilt clutching at the base of her spine as she rummaged around in her duffel bag for fresh clothes. She hated lying to Will, but, in this case, she felt it had to be done. Why worry him if it was for nothing? Maybe she just had a stomach virus.

Biting her lip, she pulled out the drug store pregnancy test she had purchased the previous day. How she wished Jane were still with her. At least she would have someone to confide in, someone to talk to it about. Not that she didn't trust Will or Charley, but this seemed to be more a girl-to-girl talk. Walking toward the nearest stall, she prayed she wouldn't regret whatever she found out.

CLMCLMCLM

She stared numbly at the pregnancy test she held in her hand. How could it be…? A little pink plus sign stared back at her, as if trying to intimidate her. A single tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the linoleum floor of the locker room. She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for a baby. She wasn't ready to give birth. She wasn't ready to be a mother. She simply didn't feel mature enough. But there wasn't much she could do about it.

CLMCLMCLM

Throughout the course of the day, Will noticed that Elizabeth was unusually silent. Though this worried him greatly, he decided it was best not to pry. However, when she turned down an offer of playing Halo, he changed his mind. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her, his concern written all over his face, as plain as could be. She remained silent, staring determinedly down at her shoes and wringing her hands anxiously. After a few moments passed with no reply from Elizabeth, he repeated, "What's wrong?"

Still she said nothing. "Lizzy… Elizabeth…" he said slowly, softly, "you're scaring me. You've been really off ever since this morning, and I'd like to know why."

Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his, her face burning a bright red hue. "Fitzwilliam," she said quietly, "how do you feel about being a father?"

Taken aback, he blinked rapidly and said, "Well… I don't really understand you. You mean… in the future?"

She shook her head. "No, William. Not in the future. I mean, how do you feel about becoming a father _now_?"

"It's not that I don't want to ever be a father," he replied, "but at this point, I just don't think I'm ready for it."

"That makes two of us," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut tightly in order to prevent the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes from fulfilling their promise.

"Elizabeth?" he said, sounding surprised as he hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. "Are you…?"

She nodded, knowing what he was going to say without him needing to finish the sentence. "Fitzwilliam… I'm pregnant."

A long pause followed her confession. "When did you find out?"

He felt numb, but he was certainly not displeased. Was he shocked? Yes. Did he feel that this was ill-timed? Of course. But did he wish it to be false? Certainly not.

"Just this morning," she replied. "In the locker room, I took a test, and it came up positive. I wanted to be sure, so I took three more. All of them came up positive." Tears shining in her eyes, she looked at him and said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he told her, his voice coming out harsher than he had intended. Wrapping his arms around her, he said, "Don't be sorry. There's no one else I'd rather have a baby with. Even if I would rather wait until we were married… and had jobs… nonetheless, you shouldn't be sorry."

She buried her face in his chest, thinking of how lucky she was that he was as sweet as he was. "I love you," she said, finally looking up after a few moments of crying silently into his shirt.

A pleasantly surprised smile spread across his face. "I love you, too," he said. He tentatively placed a hand on her stomach. "And I love our baby, too."

She placed a small hand over his on her abdomen. "Me too, Fitzwilliam. Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I might've updated yesterday, if I hadn't been in the hospital for a ruptured cyst

**A/N: I know I haven't updated in forever, but exams are coming up and school's keeping me super busy. Thanks for putting up with it! Still, I own nothing.**

Chapter 7

Within two weeks of Elizabeth's discovery of her own pregnancy, it seemed that everyone in the entire school knew. Wherever Elizabeth went, other students and even teachers stared at her stomach, as if expecting it to balloon at any moment. "Honestly, you'd think these people have never seen a pregnant woman before," she would mutter, shaking her and head and fighting against the urge to grin at others' foolishness. While most merely ogled her, others went as far as to call her a 'slut' or a 'whore.'

Wherever she went, she was always accompanied by either Charley or Will, if not by both. They seemed to have it in their heads that she needed protection, and they practically refused to let her go anywhere alone. "You guys do realize that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, right?" she inquired one day, after finding Charley and Will waiting for her outside the bathroom. Frankly, she was surprised one of them didn't follow her in there, despite the gender barrier.

"Right, right," Charley said, "of course you are." Seeing Elizabeth glared at him, he added, "We know you are, Lizzy. But we still don't like the thought of you walking through here alone."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, glancing sideways at Will. He wasn't paying attention to her; he was too busy snarling at junior who had, apparently, let his eyes linger on Elizabeth's still flat stomach for too long. Putting a hand on his arm, she said, "Down, boy."

He glanced back at the junior one last time, before looking down at her, his facial expression softening. "I hate people for being such assholes, Liz," he told her. "I really do."

"It's not your fault, Will," she shrugged. "Actually, it's somewhat amusing to listen to them figure out who the father is."

"Don't they know it's me?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her curiously. "We've only been dating steadily since halfway through sophomore year."

"Oh, most of them are sure it's you," she said. "But others think that Charley and I are cheating on you and Jane, and that the baby's his." On her other side, Charley snorted at the absurdity of such an idea. "And a few others think that the baby is someone else's completely."

"People are crazy," Will concluded, shaking his head. "If you're having a baby, it's going to be mine."

"Well, duh," she agreed. "But you have to remember, at this school, this doesn't happen very often. So people are going to try to make it as dramatic as possible."

Another senior brushed by the trio. "Whore," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the three of them to hear.

"That son of a bitch," Charley growled. "He can shove his finger up his-"

"Shut up, Charley," Elizabeth said quickly, cutting him off as the principal walked by.

The three of them slowed until he rounded the corner, and Charley heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Lizzy," he said.

"No problem," she muttered quietly, watching her feet as they made their way through the parking lot to Will's car, which the had taken to school that morning.

"Are you okay, Elizabeth?" Will said softly, grabbing her arm and holding her back, allowing Charley to go on ahead of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, still staring at her shoes.

"Are you ready for this?" he said, hooking a finger under her chin and gently pushing upward, forcing her to look at him, rather than at her shoes.

Exhaling forcefully, her eyes half-closed, she replied, "Hell, no."

CLMCLMCLM

Charley and Will accompanied Elizabeth to her home that evening, because that was the night she was planning to confess her pregnancy to her dad. "Dad," she said softly, pacing back and forth in the dining room, three pairs of eyes watching her anxiously.

"What is it, Liz?" her father asked, sounding concerned. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Just… just spit it out, Elizabeth," Will said softly, burying his head in his hands.

"What's going on?" her father pressed, sounding wary now.

Whirling around to face him, Elizabeth blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

An awkward moment of silence followed. "But… how?" Andrew Bennet asked, glancing sideways at Will, almost suspiciously.

"We went to this party," she explained. "The punch was spiked with alcohol, but we didn't know, otherwise we wouldn't have had any of it. We didn't even remember anything until the next morning." Her hands fell to her sides almost helplessly. "It was a complete mistake. We went to Confession the next day and everything."

Mr. Bennet breathed deeply and evenly, attempting to maintain his composure. "Are you going to go through with the pregnancy?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," his daughter replied, looking shocked that he would even ask such a thing. "Why wouldn't I?" He shrugged in response. "But I'm going to give it up for adoption after it's born." Beside her father, Will nodded; they had discussed this the previous day and had decided that it was best for both them and the baby that he/she be given up for adoption.

After a few moments, Will added, "Mr. Bennet, I'm so sorry about this. I feel like it's all my fault."

"Will has guilt issues," Elizabeth said, waving away her boyfriend's apology with her hand. "Dad… are you mad?"

Slowly, her father shook her head. "From the sound of it, Liz-bee, it was an honest mistake. But I'm glad you're taking responsibility. I'll be here for you."

Sniffling, Elizabeth ran to hug her father.

CLMCLMCLM

Elizabeth and Will said together on the grass of Elizabeth's back yard, staring up at the night sky in silence. "Everything is about to change."

She whispered the words so softly that Will wasn't sure whether or not she had spoken, until she repeated them. "I know," he said, taking her hand in his and bringing and kiss to her knuckles.

"I'm going to get as fat as a whale," she said. "I'm going to have morning sickness for a while. I'm going to have insane food cravings. I'm going to be crazily hormonal. I'll be gushing my admiration for you one minute, then being a bitch the next."

Will said nothing as she turned her bright eyes towards him, shining even in the darkness. "These next nine months are going to be one hell of a ride, Fitzwilliam."

"I know," he muttered again, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Through the darkness, he was able to make out the small smile spreading slowly across her face. "I'm just glad you're along for the ride."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I own nothing, is that not clear by now

**A/N: I own nothing, is that not clear by now? Anyway, please read and review! Enjoy! **

Chapter 8

Elizabeth Bennet had not had a good day. First, her AP Chemistry class had received their most recent test results, and she had gotten a 71, which was far lower than what she had hoped for.

Second, some bitchy sophomore cheerleader had decided to make some "expecting mother" cracks during journalism class, which achieved absolutely nothing, save irritating an extremely hormonal Elizabeth.

Finally, Will hadn't been in school that day to calm her down, and Charley had enough problems of his own without having to listen to her gripe all day.

In short, Elizabeth was royally pissed off.

Throw in wildly fluctuating hormones, compliments of pregnancy, and… well, let's just say it's not a pretty picture.

Charley seemed to sense that something was wrong with her while they were on the way home. "Are you okay, Elizabeth?"

"I'm fine," she snapped, her voice colder than necessary. "What's it to you?"

Looking taken aback, he said, "You just seem like you had a really crappy day."

"Well, I did," she said, turning to look out the passenger side window. "I _don't_ feel like talking about it."

"Okay then," he said, chuckling in amusement. "Someone forgot to take her happy pills this morning."

"Charley, shut your freaking mouth, okay?" she snarled, folding her arms against her chest.

"Alrighty then," he grumbled, turning to focus on the road. He didn't say another word to her for the remainder of the ride, in fear of provoking her wrath.

CLMCLMCLM

"Hey, Lizzy, Charley," Will greeted as Elizabeth and Charley walked through the front door of his home.

"DEFCON 5!" Charley screamed, almost as soon as Will closed the door behind them.

"Come again?" Will said, a lopsided grin spreading across his face. "What's with you?"

"It's not me," his friend replied. "Trust me, it's not me. It's her." He jerked his thumb at Elizabeth, his eyes growing wide.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern washing over his face as he turned toward his girlfriend.

"Nothing," she said coolly, moving towards the couch to park herself on it. "Absolutely nothing."

Sighing loudly, Will jerked his head at the stairs leading to the den. Glad to be free to leave, Charley trotted down the stairs at a breakneck pace. Soon, the familiar sound of Will's Xbox could be heard. He sat next to her on the couch, draping a single arm over her shoulders. She didn't react. "Is this because I wasn't at school today?" he questioned, cocking his head at her.

"_No_," she said forcefully. Reconsidering, she reluctantly admitted, "Well… kinda."

"Bad day?" he asked.

"Only the worst," she replied. "First, I got a 71 on my freaking chemistry test because we took it right before I found out I was pregnant, when I was just suspicious. Then, some little tenth grade slut decided to mouth off to me in journalism, and then, I had no one to vent to, because you were at home sick and Charley's been moping about Jane for two months straight." She finished her angry tirade and folded her arms against her chest, huffing.

"Okay, I get that this is hard for you and all," Will said slowly, "but did you realize that this stuff wouldn't have pissed you off as much _before_ you were pregnant?"

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, anger rising in her voice.

"I'm just saying that your hormone levels are like a freaking seismograph right now," he told her. "And that maybe you should try to relax a bit."

"What the hell, Will?" she shrieked, pushing his arm off of her and jumping up from the couch. "Are you _trying_ to piss me off even more? I mean, for _God's _sake, shut up!"

Will, who had clearly not been expecting this reaction from her, flushed a deep red color and looked down at his shoes meekly. "I'm sorry, Liz," he said softly, sounded wounded. "I was just trying to help…"

After an awkward moment of silence passed between them, Elizabeth sat down on the couch again, saying, "Oh, God, Will, I'm so sorry. I'm just freaking hormonal, like you said. It's like, I know I'm being a complete asshole, and I want to stop, but I just can't seem to. Argh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Elizabeth," he said, offering her a small smile and wrapping one arm around her.

"No, I'm really sorry, Fitzwilliam," she said again.

"It's okay," he repeated, laughing. "I forgive you, Lizzy."

"I _told_ you this was going to be one hell of a ride," she said, giggling. Just then, her phone began to vibrate in her shirt pocket. "Hold on." She pulled the phone out of the pocket and flipped it open, saying, "Hello?"

Whoever was on the other end answered, and a cold expression spread over Elizabeth's face. "Look, I've got to go," she said coolly. "A game of Halo against _Charley_ is calling me. But you can talk to Will."

She handed him the phone. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Downstairs to play with Charley," she said. "Come after you're done, okay?"

As she headed down the stairs, he pressed the earpiece to his ear, saying, "Hello?"

"Hey, Will!" said Jane's voice on the other end. "How are you?"

"I'm _fine_," he snapped. "Elizabeth's not." Anger filled his stomach. How could Jane not be with Elizabeth at a time like this, when she needed her the most? Didn't she understand that, though she had Will and Charley to talk to, she needed a girl to share this experience with?

"What's with you?"

"How can you not be here?" he demanded angrily. "How can you not be here when she needs you so desperately?"

"What are you talking about, Will?" she laughed. "Is something wrong with Lizzy that I should know about?"

"You've got to be freaking kidding me, Janie," he laughed mirthlessly. "Is something wrong with Liz? No. Is she pregnant as hell at the age of seventeen? Hell, yeah."

The tension on the phone line was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw. "Lizzy's pregnant?" Jane said, sounding shocked. "Oh my God."

Not knowing what to do or say, Will shut the phone, hanging up on Jane without saying another word. She had no idea.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I own nothing, is that not clear by now

**A/N: I own nothing, is that not clear by now? Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! **

Chapter 9

Will felt numb as he headed down the stairs to where Charley and Elizabeth were playing Halo. Halfway down, he could hear Charley groaning as Elizabeth probably beat him down and the silence that was Elizabeth's concentration. He finally reached the den and stood in the doorway, staring dumbly at his best friend and his girlfriend.

Elizabeth noticed his presence almost instantly and offered him a brilliant smile. He weakly upturned the corners of his mouth in an attempt to return it. Looking concerned, Elizabeth paused the game and set her controller down on the coffee table. "Will?" she said softly. "What's wrong?"

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, biting his lip nervously. "Alone?"

"Sure," she shrugged, glancing sideways at Charley.

Getting up, Charley sighed, "I get it. No one wants me around. I see how it is." He flashed Elizabeth a lopsided to grin, to show that he was joking, before trotting up the stairs. A few seconds later, the sounds of his rummaging around in the kitchen could be heard.

Will sat next to Elizabeth on the couch. "What's wrong?" she repeated.

"Why didn't you tell Jane?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Elizabeth knew what he was talking about, even though he didn't directly mention her pregnancy. One hand strayed absentmindedly to her slightly bulging stomach. "I'm not really sure," she whispered softly. "I think part of it was not wanting her to feel bad for not being here. But mostly I think it's because I'm royally pissed at her for not being here." She looked up at him, biting her lip. "You told her… didn't you?"

"I'm sorry. I- I didn't know," he stammered. "I thought for sure she knew. I thought she would be the first person you told, even before me. I thought…"

"You think too much," she chuckled, shaking her head affectionately at him. "It's fine, Will. Actually, thanks. I needed to tell her sometime."

His eyes widened incredulously at her. "No problem," he said. "So you're not mad?"

She shook her head. "Not at all."

Smiling widely, feeling greatly relieved, he draped an arm over her shoulders and planted a soft kiss to her hair. "She sounded really surprised," he offered, attempting to sound casual and nonchalant and failing miserably.

"She should be," Elizabeth told him. "I haven't even told her that we had sex."

"What?" he said, sounding shocked and whipping his head around to stare at her. "You said you were going to."

"I've been planning on it," she admitted. "But every time I talk to her, it's just… I don't know. Something stops me. First, she's not even here to help me deal with all this. Second, I just think that somehow… it'll make her think worse of me. You know? Like I'm not a good person anymore."

"Just because you made a mistake while you were drunk as hell doesn't make you a bad person, Liz," Will said softly, stroking her hair now. "You know that."

"I know," she said quietly, looking down at her lap. "But I don't want Jane to think that."

"It's okay," he said, attempting to sound soothing. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay."

She nodded, but a few tears escaped from her eyes nonetheless. _Pregnant women and their hormones_, he thought dryly, shaking his head.

CLMCLMCLM

During their Latin class that Friday, Charley said to Will, "Dude, there's a problem with Elizabeth."

"What is it?" he asked, snapping his head up so fast that his neck cracked. Rubbing his neck tenderly, he repeated, "What is it?"

"No, no, no, not like that kind of problem," Charley said hastily to Will's relief.

"Then what is it?"

"People are thinking that the only reason you're still dating her is because you knocked her up," he replied, translating some text from their textbook.

"So?" Will shrugged. "Who cares what they think? You know that's not true. I know that's not true. Elizabeth knows that's not true. Isn't that what matters?"

"Yeah," Charley said slowly, carefully, as he was not sure just how to phrase this. "But… don't you think that Elizabeth needs some sign of your commitment? I mean, seeing as she's going to be raising _your _kid and all."

"Charley, what the hell are you talking about?" he asked wearily.

"I'm just saying," his friend replied, lowering his voice to a whisper as the teacher glanced in their direction. "You should probably prove to her that you're serious about this relationship. You need to prove to her that the fact that's she's pregnant with your child isn't the only reason you're staying in this. She needs to know that you won't abandon her after we graduate just because you're 'going in different directions.'"

"I wasn't going to do any of that anyway," Will said softly.

"Huh?"

"Even before she got pregnant, I wasn't ever planning on breaking up with her. If we went to distant colleges, I was going to suggest a long-distance relationship."

"Really?" Charley asked, sounding incredulous.

Will nodded. "I love her, Charley," he said quietly. "How could I leave her?"

This left Charley speechless, giving Will time to consider what his friend had said. He supposed he was right. Elizabeth, in her current hormonal, desperate state, probably wouldn't find it too hard to convince herself that the only reason he was still dating her was because of the baby.

He thought about it hard for the rest of the period, before realizing that his path was _very_ clear.

CLMCLMCLM

Jane Benson sat in a chair facing her computer, her fingers poised over the keyboard. On her screen, she had a page opened to compose an e-mail to Elizabeth, apologizing profusely for leaving her and for being so ignorant of her pregnancy. However, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't bring herself to do this through the internet or over the phone. How do you apologize for being the shittiest best friend you could possibly be?

She felt a few tears streaming down her cheeks as her door opened. "Jane, honey," said her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner, who was looking at her niece in a concerned manner. "Is everything okay?"

"No," she shook her head, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. "I've screwed everything up. I've made a huge mistake."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I still own nothing

**A/N: I still own nothing. Don't sue. Please leave a review! **

Chapter 10

Will stumbled down the hallway right after school ended on the first Friday in December, a towering stack of books swaying precariously in his arms. A single fortune cookie wrapped in plastic sat atop the topmost book, looking extremely out of place. "Lizzy," Will gasped, seeing his girlfriend heading towards him in the hallway. Her stomach was just barely bulging now, and she looked weary and tired, but she smiled up at him nonetheless.

"Hey, Fitzwilliam," she said, curiously eyeing his large stacks of books. "Got a lot of baggage there?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Can you take the fortune cookie and open it for me please?" he asked. "I wanna eat it."

"Sure," she said, stifling her laughter. She deftly plucked the fortune cookie from the top of the stack and unwrapped the plastic. She broke open the cookie to remove the fortune before giving him the cookie. He opened his mouth expectantly and she placed the cookie in it. As he chewed, he watched her carefully as she read the fortune.

_Go to the place where we had our first kiss_.

"Fitz, what is this?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.

He shrugged and raised his eyebrows at her, walking off with his humongous stack of books.

Elizabeth sighed wearily and made her way over to the hill that overlooked the softball field. She wondered what Will was up to.

CLMCLMCLM

Charley met her in the exactly spot where Elizabeth and Will had shared their first kiss. It seemed like a lifetime ago, though it was only two years before that Elizabeth confronted Will about his overly generous donation toward her father's cancer treatment. "Charley?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to give you this," he said, handing her another fortune.

_Go to the place where we had our first date. Trust me, Elizabeth. ___

Folding the fortune carefully and pushing it into her pocket, she looked up, and realized, for the first time, that Charley was holding a video camera. "Charley?" she said, sounding wary. "Why are you holding a video camera?"

"Oh, this old thing?" he said, gesturing at the video camera. "Will wanted me to tape you finishing the scavenger hunt. And he wanted to make sure you didn't cheat."

"Now would I do something like that?" she asked, raising a single eyebrow at him as the two of them headed toward her car in the school parking lot.

"Well-" he said, but she cut him off.

"Shut up, Charley," she said. "Don't answer that."

CLMCLMCLM

After about twenty minutes after leaving the school, Charley and Elizabeth arrived at the indoor amusement park where Will had taken her on their first date. "It's closed," she said as they stepped out of the car.

"Are you sure this is where your first date was?" Charley said, turning the video camera toward her.

"Of course I'm sure," she snapped. "I remember our first date like it was yesterday."

"Wait, what's that on the ground?" he asked, pointing the camera towards the ground and zooming in on a small slip of paper.

Sighing loudly, she bent down to pick it up.

_Go to my house. Having fun, Elizabeth? ;) _

Chuckling, she said, "Off to Will's house." As they climbed in the car, Elizabeth buckled herself in and turned the key in the ignition saying, "What's he up to, Charley?"

"Can't tell you," he said apologetically, the camera trained on her face once more as she pulled out onto the road. "I've been sworn to secrecy. Sorry, Liz."

She smiled and glanced sideways at him. "You miss Jane, don't you?"

His wide smile slowly faded as he replied softly, "This day is about you, not me, Liz-bee. Don't worry about me."

CLMCLMCLM

After about three more fortunes, Elizabeth was beginning to think that Will was sending her on a wild goose chase. "Honestly, what the hell?" she muttered as she pulled into a parking spot at the plaza where they had seen their first movie together. "Does he just want to test my memory or what?"

"Chill out, Liz," Charley said, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. "He's got something up his sleeve; all of your effort is not in vain. Besides, I think we're coming up on the last fortune."

Elizabeth scowled but nodded as she climbed out of the car.

_Go to the Chinese restaurant right next to the theater where we saw our first movie together and sit down at the table in the far right corner of the outside patio. I love you. _

She stalked over towards the restaurant and plopped herself down in a seat at the specified table. Charley followed, video camera dutifully trained on her. She drummed her fingers on the table, saying again, "What's he up to, Charley?"

"I've told you a thousand times, Elizabeth," the redhead laughed, zooming in on her irritated face. "I can't tell you."

She grimaced and a waiter appeared at the table, placing a fortune cookie in front of her. "Might I suggest openingthis _now_?" he said, pointing to the cookie closest to Elizabeth.

"You can, thanks," she said, and he walked off. Picking up said cookie, she began to unwrap it.

She slowly unwrapped the plastic that was protecting the cookie, her slim fingers making delicate work of it.

"Why are you taking so long?" he complained, zooming in on her fingers nonetheless.

"I'm trying to guess what it is, okay?" she snapped, whipping her head up to glare at him briefly before returning her concentration to the cookie. "I want to know what he's doing."

"Have you ever thought," Charley said, pulling his eye away from the view finder of the camcorder to stare at her dryly, "that maybe if you just open the damn cookie you'll find out?"

"Shut _up_, Charley," she said, practically ignoring him. She cracked open the cookie, and her mouth dropped slightly when a glimmer of a jewel shot through the air as something fell onto her lap.

"Well?" he said expectantly. "What is it?"

_Look to the right_.

Hesitantly, she followed its instructions.

Standing directly in her line of view was none other than Fitzwilliam Darcy, smiling broadly, holding out a singe hand toward her, palm up.

In his hand, he held a single fortune cookie.


End file.
